Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has apologized after facing a backlash over a viral video in which she fed a Dorito to a podcaster while promoting the CHIPS Act, which some Catholics perceived as mocking communion.
The controversy arose after influencer and podcast host Liz Plank posted the video to her Instagram on Friday.
The clip showed Plank on her knees while Whitmer, wearing a Harris-Walz campaign hat, fed her a Dorito as Nelly’s 2002 song “Dilemma” played in the background.
The caption, referencing the 2022 CHIPS Act, read, “If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will. Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk.”
The CHIPS Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, provides $280 billion for domestic research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and semiconductor manufacturing. The act includes $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil.
While the video was intended to promote the legislation’s benefits for Michigan jobs, the imagery sparked outrage from Catholic organizations, who said it resembled the communion sacrament.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Flint, Michigan, on October 4, 2024. Whitmer has apologized after facing backlash to a viral video in which she fed a Dorito to a podcaster, which some Catholics perceived as mocking communion.
Carolyn Kaster/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paul A. Long, president and chief executive of the Michigan Catholic Conference, issued a statement on Saturday condemning the video, stating that it was “not just distasteful or ‘strange;’ it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices.”
Long added that even if the intent wasn’t to insult Catholics, “it has had an offensive impact.” The conference urged public officials to show more respect for people of faith.
In response to the outcry, Whitmer issued an apology. “Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith. I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs,” she said in a statement to Fox 2 Detroit.
Whitmer said that the video was meant to highlight the importance of the CHIPS Act, not to mock anyone’s faith. “My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that.”
Plank, in Whitmer’s defense, responded to the backlash on X, formerly Twitter, writing, “This is the trend, weirdos, chill out,” alongside a video of actor Jeremy Allen White feeding a slice of pizza to late-night host Stephen Colbert.
The video was mimicking an existing social media trend where one person feeds food to another, while the Nelly song plays in the background.
